Annabeth's Journal
by TheDaughterofNyx
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have a whole summer to relax now that the 2nd Titan War is over. But when Percy accidently discovers Annabeth's journal he unravels the missing pieces of his adventures. Please give it a chance and REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Haven't been on Fanfiction in a while, but I was beginning to miss writing! Here's a new fic I thought up. Hope you guys like it! REVIEW PLEASE!**

I walked alone through the strawberry fields, the sweet smell of fruit wafting up into my nose. I would eat some, but I was sure Dionysus would kill me if I did. Literally.

I sighed. Annabeth usually walked with me here in the afternoons, but she had an architecture class today. The strawberry fields had become our special hideout ever since the Second Titan War. We came out here to get away from the chaos of all the new demigods. But today, I was alone.

The sun beat down hard on my shoulders, and a warm breeze blew. I closed my eyes and continued walking, trailing the tips of my fingers along the plants.

Suddenly, my foot caught on something. My body lurched forward and I went sprawling to the hard ground. The wind was knocked out of me and I groaned, struggling to get some breath back into my body.

I groaned. I felt like a complete idiot. Yup. The hero of Olympus tripping and falling on his face while frolicking through some strawberry fields.

I twisted my body to see what had tripped me. Lying among the strawberry plants there lay a brown notebook, the dark cover worn down from being used often. I narrowed my eyes and picked it up.

Looking closely, I could see that the word, _Journal_ was etched in gold on the cover. I surveyed the fields, looking for anyone who would have dropped it. I sat up on my knees and dusted dirt and blades of grass off the front of my shirt.

I scrutized the journal I just discovered. My fingers itched to lift the cover and see what was written.

But no. I shouldn't. I'll toss it back into the plants to where it was before...whoops. Too late.

I ripped the cover page open, squinting at the elegant handwriting. Even with dyslexia I could make out the bold words: ANNABETH'S JOURNAL.

My breath caught in my throat. Annabeth would destroy me if she learned I read her diary. But still...

My eyes strayed to the first entry. Without meaning to, I got sucked into the words. Here's what it said:

_June 17, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_ Another summer is beginning here at Camp Halfblood. The summer campers are arriving, and our intense training starts up once again. Apparently, something big is supposed to happen by the summer solstice or war will happen. Chiron refuses to tell me the whole story. He's like a father to me, but he can be very irritating sometimes. I hope I'll be able to go on my first quest this summer. I know I can be a big help. Chiron should know I'm not a little girl anymore. I have matured in more ways than he thinks._

I stood frozen, staring at the page. This journal was from the first summer I came to camp. I might be able to learn Annabeth's point of view and her first impression on me...Everything.

I looked around to make sure I was still alone. Then, I fixated my gaze again on the page, concentrating my dyslexic brain on the faded words.

_June 18, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_You will NOT believe what happened yesterday after I wrote in you. So I was in the Big House with Chiron and Mr. D, playing pinochle, when we hear loud yelling and roaring in the distance. Suddenly, we all look up in alarm. Five minutes later there's a thump on the big house porch. _

_ Chiron grabs his quiver and arrows and I draw my knife from my pocket. Mr. D just stands there, the idiot that he is, guzzling down a can of coke. Chiron and I walk cautiously outside to investigate, our weapons held at the ready. _

_ Instead of an enemy though, there is a boy my age with silky black hair and dark sea green eyes, carrying my friend Grover over his shoulder. He sets him down gently on the wooden planks of the porch then collapses, his hands clutching a curved horn. A Minotaur horn._

_ I looked to Chiron in awe. "He's the one. He must be," I whispered excitedly._

_ "Hush Annabeth," Chiron shushed me. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."_

_ We brought Grover and the boy in and set them down on seperate cots. _

_ The boy's hands were stained with blood and his breathing was ragged. Chiron ordered me to nurse him. I nodded and spooned a teaspoon of nectar into his mouth. He smiled and sighed contentedly. _

_ "Well? Is he the one?" I asked again urgently. _

_ "Calm yourself, hero," he cautioned me. "Gaining too much not knowledge too soon is not good. We must wait."_

_ I huffed indignantly. Chiron might not want to spill the beans, but he underestimates me too much. I am the daughter of Athena. And I intend to find out who he is soon one way or another._

I smiled down at the page. Who would have thought Annabeth was so curious about me in the beginning? Suddenly, I heard Annabeth's voice.

"Percy? Where are you?"

In a panic, I stuffed the journal under my shirt and rushed to my cabin. I tossed the notebook into my underwear drawer, one place I was certain Annabeth would not want to search in.

I jogged outside again to meet Annabeth. I greeted her with a hug and a light peck on the lips, but my mind was far away.

Annabeth's mind was something I could never quite figure out. Now I had the chance. I was either going to take the chance, or be kept wondering. So as Annabeth rambled on about her class, I took a deep breath and grabbed the opportunity.

**Thanks for reading! Hope it was good! I promise the next chapters will be filled with more detail! :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you guys like it! Anyway, enjoy the next chapter and REVIEW! :)**

That night, I lay in bed, staring at the bottom of Tyson's bunk bed. I twisted and turned in my bunk, the hinges squeaking shrilly. I sighed. I was completely restless. All I could think about was Annabeth's journal sitting in my drawer, buried underneath my Spongebob Squarepants boxers. (Hey, don't make judgements, Spongebob is awesome!)

I guess I eventually drifted off to sleep, because when I opened my eyes later, it was morning. I stretched and smiled. I checked the _Underwater Sea Life _Calender that was hanging on the wall beside my bunk. Under the picture of the Beluga whales, I saw that it was Friday. Another one of Annabeth's architecture classes. She took them from Monday to Friday every week.

Suddenly, a sharp knock sounded at my door. I jumped out of bed and smoothed down my dark hair. "Come in," I called.

The screen door opened, and Annabeth flounced in, wearing her Camp Halfblood t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts.

"Hey," she greeted me brightly. "I came to say hi before I go to Architecture," She told me. Her gray eyes sparkled in the morning light that was coming through my windows.

I grinned back, swallowing the feeling of guilt that rose up in my throat. "That's great," I laughed, although my voice sounded a little shrill. I cleared my throat and continued, "You want to meet up afterwards? We could go down to the lake, or take a walk through the woods," I suggested, peeling off my pajama top and throwing on a t shirt.

Annabeth nodded, her blond ponytail bobbing happily. "Yeah, that sounds really fun," she said, pleased.

She gave me a light kiss on the cheek and skipped out of my cabin. Man. That class made her so hyper with joy. If I took that class, I'd just go insane.

After peering through my window to make sure she was gone, I fished the journal out of my drawer and opened the crinkly pages to where I had left off. _Man this thing is thick,_ I thought. But it was interesting.I knew that much.

I glanced down on the page where the words, once again, engulfed me.

_June 20, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_ After being unconscious for two days, the mysterious boy finally regained consciousness for a while. As soon as his eyes flickered open, I whispered urgently, "What will happen at the Summer solstice?"_

_ The boy looked at me quizzically. "What?"_

_ I glanced around nervously. "What's going on? What's been stolen? Please. We only have a few weeks!"_

_ Then, I heard Argus tromping up the stairs so I reluctantly had to spoon more nectar into his mouth. _

_ Finally, he woke up for good. His walk was unsteady, but he managed to come outside. I watched him and Grover talk from the picnic table I sat at with Luke. _

_ Chiron cantered over to them and began talking to the boy, no doubt telling him what this place was all about. _

_ I studied him the best I could, trying to nod enthusiastically about what Luke was talking to me about. There was just something weird about the new demigod. He had no similar features to any of the other demigods. He wasn't buff like the Ares kids, he didn't have gray eyes like Athena kids. He didn't even have that mischievious elfish look to him like the Hermes kids._

_ Luke's voice shook me back to Earth. "Annabeth?"_

_ I blinked, tearing my eyes away from the new boy. "Sorry," I apologized. "What were we talking about again?" _

_ Luke looked at me intently. I felt my cheeks redden. "Sorry I -uh...have to go," I stuttered, stumbling away from the table. I felt like a dork, but whatever._

_ Suddenly, I heard clip clopping coming towards me. Chiron was leading the new boy over to me! I narrowed my eyes in curiousity._

_ "Percy," Chiron said to him. "This young lady nursed you back to health."_

_ I stared at him. He stared back, his swirling green eyes reaching into mine. I opened my mouth to tell him how heroic he was, how impressive his defeat over the Minotaur was. Instead I said, "You drool when you sleep."_

_ Then I jogged away, feeling flustered. Man, what was wrong with me today? I could feel his eyes burning into my back, but I didn't look back._

_ There was something more to this kid. I would find out tomorrow. I've got to._

Whew! I almost forgot how hostile she was the first time we met. Unfortunately, I had also forgotten how attached she was to Luke.

Thinking about my old enemy/friend caused a lump to swell up in my throat. If he hadn't been so hurt by the gods and didn't sway to the other side, we could've been great friends.

I sighed, feeling exhilerated. There was a lot more to my story than I thought, and looking through these pages, I would figure it all out, and learn a little bit about Annabeth in the process.

**Thanks for reading this chapter!I hope you guys enjoyed! and don't forget to review! :) **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Thanks again for the reviews! I'm so glad everybodys adding my story to their alerts and favorites, but do you guys mind reviewing too? It really helps. Thanks! Enjoy and R&R! **

When Annabeth came back from architecture, she had already missed dinner, but mind was still spinning from what I had read. Although I had dyslexia and it was usually really hard to read, Annabeth's words weren't as difficult to comprehend. It was like I understood her thoughts and feelings more than I should.

We went for a walk down by the lake, her fingers entangled in mine. We sat down on a dark, soggy log and watched a few stray campers race their way through the serene blue water.

I didn't say anything, just stared down at the water and thought about all the secrets I was going to have an opportuntiy to unlock. It took me a while to notice that Annabeth was poking me in the shoulder.

"Hello? Earth to Seaweed Brain? Is your head full of kelp today?" She teased, resting her head on my shoulder. She stared at me, her swirling gray eyes distracting me from my thoughts.

She frowned. "Why are you so distant today?" She asked suspiciously, lifting her head from my shoulder. "Do you not want to hang out with me today?"

"Yes, I do," I protested, a feeling of guilt settling in me. "I'm just tired today, thats all."

Annabeth smiled and leaned closer. "Then let me wake you up," she whispered in my ear.

I smiled and turned my head towards hers. Our lips touched and I melted into it. Annabeth twirled an arm around my neck, pushing herself closer. I reached behind the nape of her neck and undid her ponytail, her golden blond hair falling freely in ringlets over her shoulders,our lips still dancing together.

By the time I got back to my cabin, it was pitch dark out. My lips felt bright red, my hair tangled and messy. I smiled to myself in the dark, thinking of the times when I was hesitant to even give her a hug. I climbed through my screen door and collapsed on my bunk. I glanced out the window, there was no one in sight.

I walked over to my underwear drawer. Fishing under the piles of boxers and socks, I felt the familiar worn cover of Annabeth's journal. I lifted it out of the drawer and plopped down on my bed to read it.

I opened the crinkly pages and began to read where I had left off.

_June 21, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_ The next day, Chiron made me guide the new boy around. He informed me that his name was Percy. Percy Jackson. Although my expression remained hard as a rock, I smiled inside. He was named after Perseus, the great Greek hero. Maybe that's a good sign._

_ "Bring this boy to cabin eleven," Chiron ordered me. "He will wait there till he is determined." I nodded and guided Percy to the Hermes cabin. _

_ I glanced at his face. His expression was hesitant and wary, but strong. He looked determined to face whatever came at this camp. If only he knew the struggles these kids went through..._

_ I noticed he had stopped at the doorway of the cabin. "Go on," I prompted him. _

_ He tripped. Giggles filled the cabin, but I shot them down with a glare. _

_ "He's undetermined," I informed the campers. The giggles turned to groans._

_ Luke came up to him and held out his hand. "Now, now campers, this is what we do. Welcome Percy, you can sleep over there," He shook his hand and pointed towards a free section of the room._

_ I smiled to myself. Of course Luke would be the kindest one, always so understanding and sympathetic to new campers._

I grimaced. It stung me now to think that the whole nice attitude he had in the beginning was just an act. Even though he turned to be good in the end, He had resentment for me that day. I shook my head free of this thought and continued.

_"This is Luke," I told Percy. I ducked my head, but I could feel the color rushing to my cheeks. Percy noticed and chuckled to himself. I hardened and continued, "He's your counselor for now."_

_ "For now?" he asked. _

_ Luke explained it all while I tried hard not to look directly at his face. Whenever I do, my brain turns to mush. _

_ After leaving the cabin, I got agitated. "Jackson, you have to do better than that," I commanded. He looked at me quizzically which only got me more irritated. "I can't believe I thought it was you." I muttered._

_ Percy whirled to face me. "What is your problem?" he demanded. "All I did was kill some bull guy-"_

_ "Don't say that!" I protested._

_ And with that, we got into a full fledged argument. I knew I was being somewhat unreasonable, but hey, I was aggravated with his cluelessness. I explained for the hundreth time what this Camp was really like and why we do what we do._

_ Unfortunately,Clarisse came over then. She blasted her stupid mouth off, trying to act all tough and dragged Percy by the collar to the bathroom. Amazingly, he fought back. He was a runt. But he tried. _

_ Oddly, as soon as Clarisse was about to dunk his head in the repulsive toilets, the plumbing in the bathroom exploded, blasting Clarisse, and flooding the whole bathroom. Unfortunately, I was not spared. The blast caused Clarisse to fly backwards and hit the wall. But Percy was dry! not a drop on him!_

_ She was furious. And I mean FURIOUS. But Percy gave her a smug grin, like it happened all the time. "You wanna gargle with toilet water Clarisse? Close your mouth." I had to work hard to stifle a laugh. _

_ I honestly thought this kid would be just as easy to figure out as any new demigod. But there was something about him I couldn't understand. But I knew one thing: This kid could carry his own weight. He didn't need anyone looking out for him. _

I smiled and closed the journal. I had read a lot tonight. In fact, the most I've ever read! Despite, my spinning brain, I smiled. Annabeth's mind was really a fascinating thing to read. And I thought she totally resented me in the beginning, and Luke liked me better. Guess I had it backward.

**Thanks for reading! And please, please, please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry I haven't updated in like, a week! I've been really busy. And by the way, I would like to make a shoutout to the horrible new song "Friday" by Rebecca Black. If you haven't seen it, go check it out on youtube! Anyway, READ AND REVIEW!**

**Sorry I haven't uploaded. Fanfiction was having problems. I would also like to thank C-Nuggets N.L for helping me with my technical difficulties. Thank you so much! **

The next day, Annabeth had no architecture class because it was Saturday. Although I was really glad to be spending time with her after all her classes, I was itching to read more of Annabeth's story.

"So," Annabeth grinned as we walked through the woods, the trees allowing a small sliver of sun to light our path. "Whatcha been up to lately?"

I shrugged. "Nothing," I replied, turning my burning cheeks away from her gaze.

"Hey," Annabeth laughed, cupping my chin and guiding it back so we were face to face. The leaves crunched under our sneakers and for a moment we just stared at each other, totally entranced. Her voice was soft and husky, seeming to carry away with the breeze as she spoke. "I wouldn't have come to see you if I can't even see your handsome face," she teased.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Our eyes locked and we stopped walking. Suddenly it hit me how much I had missed Annabeth. It was weird not being together all the time, trying to save the world.

Her gray eyes swirled with color and her golden blond hair was pulled up tight in a ponytail. I smiled at it.

"You know you really should leave your hair down more often," I suggested, sliding down the elastic, her sand colored wavy hair falling lightly over her shoulders.

She grinned and me and touched her lips to mine. We stood there for a moment, kissing, unaware of the time or place around us. Suddenly, she pulled away.

"Shoot," she cursed, her lips forming into a frown. "I promised Malcom I would help the new campers with their archery until dinner."

I shook my head. "Its okay," I promised her. "Go ahead, I'll see you at the campfire."

She smiled faintly, gave me a quick peck on the cheek and was gone.

I waited till she was out of sight then dashed back to my cabin, wind whistling in my hair.

I burst into my cabin and dug through my drawer, recovering the journal. I smiled and plopped onto my bed, the springs screeching shrilly. I opened the crinkled pages and picked up where I left off.

_June 22, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_After forgiving the dork for blasting me with toilet water, I invited him to be on my Capture the Flag team._

I smiled. My first Capture the Flag game. I remember that.

_I know that may sound crazy, but don't worry...I have a plan._

_The heroes all gathered at the pavillion, both teams carrying their flags. I smiled at the back of Luke's head. This would be a great chance to show him what a great fighter and strategist I was. _

_Anyway, as Chiron slammed his hoof onto the marble and explained the rules, I was quickly going over the battle plan in my head. _

_Just then, the conch horn started and the game began. Both teams thundered onto the opposing sides, yelling battle cries and carrying their weapons. Luke glanced at me, and butterflies flew around vigorously in my stomach._

_"Ready?" he yelled to me. _

_My face burned and I nodded, unable to cry out. Oh Lord Zeus, why oh why do I always have to get so flustered around him?_

_Luke ran around the flank, and I dashed off in search of Percy to ensure that Clarisse and her little buddies didn't skewer him yet._

_I slipped on my special Yankees cap Athena got for me and turned invisible. I saw Percy being surrounded by Cabin Five. Clarisse pursued him, her spear crackling with energy. I was about to step in, but something inside me told me to wait. _

_I watched as Percy got slammed with the electric spear. He winced in pain but didn't cry out. I took a breath and was about to step in and fight them off, when Percy fell with a splash into the water. He shook his head, his eyes suddenly more alert and clear, the fresh wounds on his arm mending rapidly._

_When the Ares cabin pursued him again, Percy stood at the ready. He stepped aside the second strike, bashing a guy's head in. He cut off the other guy's helmet and butted the ogre in the stomach. I watched in astonishment as he snapped Clarisse's precious spear "lamer" like a twig._

_Just then, Luke scrambled back with the flag, the opposing team rushing over with their weapons to grab him. I smiled. My plan had worked. As the Ares Cabin realized they had been tricked, they tried to grab him, but they were too late._

_As soon as they were gone I praised Percy. "Not bad hero."_

_Percy didn't seem to care that I was invisible two seconds ago. He started arguing with me, but I was contemplating something in my mind. "Step out of the water Percy."_

_He have me a look, but he did, and instantly, he almost fell over. I had to catch him._

_Chiron and the other campers came over to see what was happening. Suddenly, a swirling trident appeared over Percy's dark black hair._

_I gasped in unision with the other campers. Chiron's expression was grim. "All hail Persues Jackson, Son of the Sea God, Earthshaker, stormbringer and Father of horses."_

_I couldn't breath. Couldn't move. I was numb with shock._

_Percy was a son of Poseidon. My mothers sworn enemy. This was bad. Very, very bad. _

I exhaled and closed the cover. Man, when I was reading that thing, I was totally oblivious to everything else. That was the problem

I heard Annabeth's voice. "Percy? What the hell are you doing?"

I glanced up to see Annabeth standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. She had seen everything. And boy, was she pissed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey people! Thank you so much for all the reviews! When I checked my email the next day, I was so surprised. I had gotten like, 27 new reviews. They really inspire me to write more, so thanks! Anyway, in the last chapter, I had left you guys with a cliffhanger! Look below to see what happens next!**

Annabeth strode quickly into the room, her gray eyes seemed almost black. She pushed past me where I stood, frozen to the spot. Annabeth scooped up her old journal and clenched it tightly in her hands. Her lips pursed and her eyes tightened into slits. I seemed like forever until she spoke.

"I lost this journal," she whispered fiercly, her voice seeming to shoot icy shards into the air, "so long ago. And I can't believe you of all people would have taken and kept it from me."

My body immediately went into defensive mode, my posture straightnening sharply. "Hey, I didn't take it from you," I protested. "I found it, and I was going to give it back to you."

"Yeah sure, right _after_ you read it," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Her cheeks were bright red. "What made you do it? What made you do something _so _horrible?" she demanded, her hands trembling with fury. She was staring at me in such an accusatory way, so full of blame, that I found myself getting angry. Really angry_. Far_ from pissed.

"_What _made me do it?" I hissed right back at her, a hot anger gurgling up from my stomach, lifting up into my throat, choking me. "I'll tell you what made me do it. Truthfully, at first, I was going to give it back to you without a second glance. But then I thought how you were always so unwilling to tell me things, how you refused to tell me so many important stories, even if it was dangerous for you not to."

Annabeth, shocked at my anger, hissed back with venom, "Maybe because it was _none of your business!" _

"No," I insisted. "I read your journal because you were always so hard to read, never telling me what was wrong, then getting furious with me because I said something wrong. There was never a way to know what I could and couldn't say. Whenever I asked you about your past, you would yell at me, and then get upset with me. But have you noticed how I never got upset with you? Always gave you a chance and always defended you."

Thats when I said the hardest thing I had been holding in for the past four years. "And I was never good enough for you because I wasn't Luke. Whenever I ever tried to convince you that he was a pile of shit, you lashed out at me, telling me I _wanted _him to be evil. You remember that don't you? That time we were in the Labyrinth?"

I paused, taking a deep breath. "That hurt me you know," I told Annabeth, who was standing quietly by my bed, listening.

"You got mad at me for trying to protect you, after he tried to _kill _you. You also said I didn't know him before? I think you may have forgotten that he was the first person to accept me at camp, unlike you who treated me like a dumbass, just because I didn't catch on to the whole idea of camp as quickly as you did. You judged me, based on the rivalry in our parents history, not giving me a chance until I gave YOU a chance to go on your precious quest for the first time."

I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. "You got mad at me for the stupidest things," I said in disdain. "For being friends with another girl, for making my own choices about who I tell the truth to." My voice began to soften. I looked at Annabeth, who had tears shimmering in her dark gray eyes.

I sighed. "I just wanted to figure you out, Annabeth," I whispered. "I wanted to know your true feelings about me and why you said the things you said. I wanted to know you better but I knew that you would never let me and this would be my only opportunity." I dropped my hands to my sides helplessly. "And I had to grab that chance," I finished.

Annabeth said nothing for a moment, looking at me. Finally, she walked over to me and whispered, "I'm sorry." She kissed me on the cheek softly, lightening the mood. But then she whispered, "But you shouldn't have taken taken it."

She shook her head. "But you're right," she admitted in defeat. "Its time you know my thoughts and feelings the past few years because you've always been honest with me."

She ran out of the cabin, the returned a minute later with four more books in her arms. She smiled at me. "These are the rest of my journals," she told me. "And I'm willing to share them with you."

I froze. Her Journals from all our quests. Everything. And starting right at that moment, we sat together on my bunk, and together we opened the doors to our history.

**Okay, so I'm not going to include all the journals from each book in this one story, but at the end of this story, send me a request if you want me to make like, a bunch of sequels. Review please!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey! Sorry I haven't updated. There was alot going on. I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for all your support on this story. It really inspires me to write more. Anyway, enough of my blabbering...Enjoy the story and don't forget to review!**

After our quarrel, we both calmed down pretty quickly. There was a new feeling flooding through my body now, going a hundred miles an hour. It was contentment. It was the feeling of release. To be able to say everything that I've always wanted to say, in those couple of minutes meant a lot.

"So," Annabeth sighed, spreading out the journals on my scratchy bedspread. "Where did you leave off at?"

"Umm." I racked my brain for the events that I just read. "I was at the part where I was claimed by Poseidon."

Annabeth smiled, light dancing through her eyes. "That was a really big shock for me," she admitted. "I mean, looking back it was kinda obvious that you were Poseidon's kid...with the bathroom incident and the water healing...its just that a child of the big three was so rare then. It still is."

"I know," I agreed. "And I thought I would get killed by the Ares cabin."

"Yeah..." I said, distantly as a thought struck me. "Wait a minute...you never had a journal on our quest...I know I never saw it. Did you take it with you?"

"No," Annabeth sighed, running a hand through her hair. "But I did recap when we got back...lets just read, shall we?"

So together, we opened the wrinkled pages and began to take turns reading out loud.

_June 24, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_After Percy unbelievably got claimed by Poseidon, Chiron moved him to cabin three. I'm being forced to teach the kid how to read and speak Greek. Ridiculus. Chiron KNOWS the rivalry between Athena and Poseidon...why would he make me do this? WHYYY?_

I shot Annabeth a look. She smiled back apologetically.

_Percy was attacked by a hellhound the day before. _

_I overheard Chiron say he was going to issue him quest. Can you believe it? Give that brainless, scrawny Poseidon kid who shouldn't even be here a quest? I've been here since I was seven and I'VE never gotten a quest. UNFAIR. _

Okay...so that was one of the reasons Annabeth resented me. I took a deep breath and read on.

_I just have to make a plan to get in on that quest. And Percy actually expects us to be friends. Does he know NOTHING about our hereditary rivalry?_

_Ugh. That seaweed brain is not leaving this camp without me...I swear to Hades that he won't. _

As soon as I was done reading I shot Annabeth a look. "Jeez...what was with the hostilty?"

Annabeth sighed and leaned against my shoulder. "You know I love you...seaweed brain."She winked at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright," I sighed. "Next entry."

Annabeth winced, but nodded.

_June 25, 2005_

_Dear Journal, _

_Today it's RAINING in camp. Raining! The Gods must be extremely angry. Anyway, like I promised, Seaweed brain wasn't going to go on that quest without me. So I slipped on my invisiblity Yankees cap and eavesdropped on Percy, Chiron, and Dionysus talk about what the camp was about, blah, blah, blah...and _

_finally ...the quest._

_"I didn't take it!" Percy protested angrily. "How could I have taken a master bolt? Zeus is freaking crazy!"_

_My mouth fell open. So THATS what was stolen. Holy. Freaking. Zeus. Lightning split open the sky. _

_"Uh, you can't talk about the Lord of the Sky like that Percy," Grover stated. _

_As Chiron explained the point of the quest I noticed that Percy looked angry. No, furious. I could tell he had a lot of determination and passion, no matter how much I hate to admit it._

_"So I have to find the stupid bolt and return it to Zeus," Percy confirmed. _

_Chiron nodded and sent him up to the attic to get a prophecy. When he came back and recited it, it didn't sound too good. Apparently it was:_

_You shall go West and face the God who has turned._

_You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned._

_You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend_

_And you will fail to save what matters most in the end._

_I swallowed. Yikes. _

_I listened to Percy and Grover discuss with Chiron. Apparently, it was probably Hades who took the bolt...makes sense. He needed to go West and find it._

_That was when Chiron said, "Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help. "  
"Who would be stupid enough to sign up for this?" Percy asked. I narrowed my eyes. Stupid?_

_I took my cap off, revealing myself. "__I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain, " I said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up, " I told him._

_"If you do say so yourself, and I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"_

_I turned red.__"Do you want my help or not?"_

_He grinned. "Yeah. A trio. That'll work."_

_And just like that, I had my first quest._

"Wow," I said. "You were just so lovable," I grinned. Annabeth smacked me with a pillow. I smiled, but my mind was far away. Jeez. How much did I have wrong about our history?


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello my dears ;) So, I haven't updated in a while but SRPING BREAK IS HERE! WHOOP WHOOP! On the last chapter I didn't get many reviews =( If you guys are losing interest just say so so I don't waste people's time. But anyway...ON WITH THE STORY! Review PLEASE! **

The next day Annabeth agreed to let Grover and Thalia read her journals too. At first she wasn't thrilled...still isn't actually, but I told her it was only fair because Grover went on the quest with us and Thalia was...blocked out for that certain time period. (She was a tree for those of you sillies who have't catched on.)

So there the four of us were, sitting in my cabin, Annabeth's journals spread around us. Thalia and Grover caught up with the ones I already read, reading with dumbfounded expresssions.

After they finished, they both looked up. Annabeth was as red as a tomato, but had a sheepish smile on her face.

"Well, _Wise Girl,_" Thalia teased as she finished the entry. "I guess its time for all of us to read together...isn't it?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and pushed her journal towards the middle of our circle. "Read," she ordered sourly.

We didn't need any more encouragement. Grover and exchanged a grin and plunged where into the part I left off last.

_July 5, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_Well...we're back from our quest. I can honestly say I'm speechless right now. I'm sorry I couldn't take you but I didn't want writing to be a distraction. I'll do a little recap for ya though. But I can say right now...Percy Jackson is so much more different than what I assumed in the beginning. He's a good friend._

I smiled down at the paper. Thalia gave me a pinch. I ignored her.

_So, we packed up the next morning and set off..._

_Grover was going to be coming with us. I'm glad. Now I don't have to be alone with Percy... I was finally getting into the real world. No more training...this was the real game. I would finally figure out if I was good enough...or not. _

_Grover disguised himself as a human. Luke gave Percy some fancy flying shoes... and gave ME a hug. I was ready to pass out. _

"Don't. Make. Any. Comment." Annabeth ordered. I sighed. I wasn't going to anyway. I understood what Luke meant to her back then...still means to her actually.

_Percy had to give up his new flying shoes to Grover because he wasn't suppoed to be in the air, so he gave them to Grover. For them to work, all you had to do was shout, "Maia!"_

_Chiron gave Percy Anaklusmos. Riptide. I have to admit, that sword is beautiful. A three foot long blade of glowing bronze. After we were all done saying our goodbyes, we hit the road. _

_Of course, Percy had to mention monsters five minutes after we left. __"It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain, "I chided him._"

"_Remind me again-why do you hate me so much?" He asked. _

_I looked down at the ground. "I don't." _

_Percy snorted. _

_"Look our parents are rivals, ok? __One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her. "_

_We said goodbye to Argus who let us out of the camp car. Grover began telling Percy about how his mom was protecting him by putting up with his smelly stepfather, Gabe. I wasn't really listening. I just knew that Percy looked kinda...sad, even though he tried to hide it. _

_Things turned bad for us when we boarded the bus. _

_We saw three withered old ladies board the bus too. The furies. Holy Zeus. I forced Percy to take my invisiblity hat. He refused at first, not wanting to leave me and Grover behind, but we forced him to. _

_He snuck away...or so I thought. Once they realized he wasn't there, the Furies turned on me and Grover. I got ready to fight, and Grover...kinda did...with a tin can. _

"That was all I had!" Grover protested.

_We began to fight, I jumped onto one of their backs and hit her head fiercly. Suddenly, the bus lurched to one side. I glanced up. The driver seemed to be wrestling for the wheel...but there was no one up front with him. _

_Percy, I thought. _

_The emergency brake was pulled and the Furies were knocked against the windows. The doors opened, and all the mortals ran screaming off the bus. Another miracle: Percy didn't. He STAYED BEHIND and took off the darn cap. Crazy kid._

_He drew Riptide and sliced one of them to bits. He shouted in latin at them, "Braccas meas vesciminni!" _

_"Get out!" I yelled. "Go!" The three of us ran from the bus then. We realized we left our bags there just as the bus...exploded. _

_"Run!" I screamed again. _

_Together, we ran away from the angry monsters from Hell._

_"All our money was back there, " Percy told me. "Everything."_

_"Well then don't decide do jump into the fight," I snapped. Percy WOULD steal my thunder the first fight of the quest._

_Percy looked hurt. "You would've gotten killed," he mumbled. _

_I sighed. "Look I...__I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave. "_

_Percy smiled. "S 'okay. We're a team right?" _

_I ducked my head to hide my tiny smile. "Right," I whispered into the darkness. "A team."_

I finished reading, breathless. The cabin was silent. Suddenly it was filled with a simultaneous, "AWWW!"

"Annabeth, thats so...sweet," Thalia gushed. "Your first fight together. I wish I would've been there to see it."

Grover grumbled something about tin cans.

"Percy," Annabeth faltered. "I never had THAT much disdain for you when we first met I just-"

"Stop," I interrupted. "Its okay."

"Well Lord Poseidon!" Grover exclaimed. "This is juicy stuff! Lets continue later."

We al agreed and walked out into the light.

**So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? REVIEW PLEASE!. **_  
_


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I feel so cool, updating so soon! Thanks for all the reviews! Haha, anyway, if any of you are interested, I am writing an original story on fictionpress. If you want to read what I'm working on the link is: f i c t i o n p r e s s/s/2909335/1/Catching_the_Sun **

**Please look into it, fictionpress doesn't get as many reviews as fanfiction, so please read and tell me what you think!**

Me, Annabeth, Thalia and Grover met up again after the campfire in my cabin. Technically, we were all supposed to be in our own cabins at night, but we figured Chiron wouldn't mind. (We closed the blinds just in case)

"So," Thalia said with a grin. "We all ready to read about Annabeth's thought's and feelings?" She snickered when Annabeth glared at her. "Oh, you know I love you," she told her.

Grover rolled his eyes at her. "Alrighty, lets kick back with some tin cans and lets read!" he exclaimed, picking up Annabeth's worn journal.

We opened the crinkled pages and took turns reading aloud.

_July 6, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_So, I was recapping what happened during the quest. Unfortunatetly, the Furies were only the first of the many troubles we encountered. _

_Well, after Percy saved my ass, I was all grouchy. I knew I wasn't being fair but it just didn't seem right that the first fight I got, I had to be saved like some weak little girl. It's not that I wasn't grateful that Percy was so brave for me and Grover...I just thought I'd be better at fighting than that, ya know?_

_I tried to tell Percy the truth, that this was my only chance to see the real world, and he was surprisingly cool about it...fine with the fact that I was using him to get a quest. As long as I was on his side, he was okay._

_"At camp all you do is train," I told him. "But the real world is where the monsters are. It's where you find out if you're TRULY good or not."_

_"Hey, you're pretty good with that knife," he told me as we walked through the darkness. I felt safer talking about myself in the dark...where he couldn't see my reactions to what he said. _

_"You think so?" I asked, feeling a rush of pride flood through me. _

_"Anybody who can piggy back ride a fury is okay by me," he told me matter-of-factly, as of this were the most obvious thing in the world._

_I smiled. Okay, so Percy was much nicer to me than I was to him, but he just didn't get that we were natural born rivals. We COULDN'T be friends, even if I wanted to..._

_After our long walk we came to an old, run down diner with a battered sign in front. _

_"What does that say?" Percy asked, looking hard at the sign._

_I sighed. "I don't know," I said somewhat grumpily. I hated not knowing things._

_"Mmm, do you smell that?" Percy asked._

_I sniffed the air and found that the smell of fast food was lingering in the air. "Mmm," I moaned, the smell reminding me of my hunger. "The lights are on. Maybe they're open."_

_"Don't knock," Grover commanded. "Are you guys crazy? I smell monsters!"_

_I told Grover he was being dumb and knocked. _

_Turns out we should have listened to him._

"Yeah, nobody EVER listened to ME!" Grover grumped from his spot on the floor.

"Oh, it all ended okay," I told him, now lets continue reading, okay?"

"Oh, you know I'm right Percy," he muttered under his breath, but continued reading.

_A strange lady opened the door, her face and hands covered by a veil. She greeted us warmly, her voice having a...hypnotic tone._

"Uh-oh," Thalia muttered, already knowing what was coming.

_My mind seemed to fog up and I talked in a daze. I was well aware of Grover shaking next to Percy and me but I was...hypnotized or something by the woman's strange, lulling voice. _

_Her cafe was filled with statues, not that I paid much attention to them. The woman who introduced herself as 'Aunty Em' gave us food to eat, the food lulling me even more into my daze. _

_As she began telling Percy about her past,I continued eating until something she said pulled me up short. Her story that she was telling...I KNEW that story..._

_I tried to get Percy out of his daze, but he shook me off, telling me I was being rude. Well, I might have been being rude, but at least I wasn't being dumb like him! That lady was Medusa! MEDUSA! He should know enough about mythology to have heard of MEDUSA, right?_

_But he was being stupid, and agreed to let Medusa drag us out into her garden of statues to 'take a picture.' She didn't even HAVE a camera in her hands. _

_"HEY, THATS MY UNCLE FERDINAND!" grover yelled as he saw a statue of a satyr. _

_"Look away!" I yelled, slapping on my invisbility cap. Percy was smart enough to take my advice and he dropped to the ground. _

_I heard Medusa trying to persuade Percy to look up. I suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of protectiveness towards him. "NO DON'T PERCY!" I screamed. "DON'T LISTEN TO HER, RUN!"_

_"SILENCE," medusa snarled at me. _

_I glanced up to see Grover swinging through the air with his flying sneakers, trying to whack Medusa on the head with his club. _

_I grabbed Percy and yanked him close to me. "You have to cut her head off," I told him._

_"Wha-what?" He asked. _

_"I can't do it myself because she'd kill me instantly. She HATES my mother. Besides, you have the better weapon." I tossed him a glass ball. "Don't look at her directly. Just look at her reflection. Now go!"_

_I swallowed the weird lump in my throat and urged him back to where Grover was still whacking Medusa with his club. Crazy satyr._

_Medusa flung Grover out of the air, causing him to crack his head on a cement statue. I rushed over to help._

_That was when I heard a gross gurgling sound... Percy had cut off Medusa's head. Impressive kid. Impressive. _

_I grabbed Medusa's veil and covered up the gross, warm head, being careful not to look at it. _

_"So we have Athena to thank for the monster?" Percy asked irritably, wiping his hands on his jeans. _

_I scowled at him. "No, YOUR dad actually." We began to argue again, despite the fact we almost died two seconds ago. _

_Percy walked away and into Medusa's shop. I sighed and followed him. He put Medusa's head in a package and sent it to Olympus._

_"Great. Now they are going to think you're impertinent," Grover warned. _

_Percy glared at me. "I AM impertinent," he said. I said nothing. _

_I sighed. Once again, Percy had totally saved my ass while I stood around; the weak heroine. Stupid hero. Unfortunately, I couldn't shake that weird feeling of protectiveness for him as we were fighting. How strange. _

The cabin was silent. Finally, I started to speak, feeling drained. "So...I stole your thunder, didn't I?" I sighed, dropping the journal onto the floor. I got up and sat on my bed, feeling like the biggest jerk.

Annabeth got up and followed me. "No," she said, her voice filled with certainty. "We had each other's backs, thats all. That's what friends are supposed to do during quests. I was just too angry and bitter to realize it."

Thalia and Grover were silent. My first quest was suddenly fresh in my mind, and I could tell it was affecting all of us in my cabin tonight...reminding us of the young heroes we used to be.

**So what did you think? Review! And don't forget to check out my other story on fictionpress please! **


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, I got so many reviews! Thanks so much you guys, I really appreciate it. New chapter is up!Kinda short, but I'll update again soon. Look below and read. Feedback would be nice. Constructive critism is welcomed. :D**

The four of us arranged to meet the next night, same time as always to look into more of our past. Surprisingly, I could remember my first year he pretty vivdly, despite the number of years that had passed. Reading Annabeth's journal also made me kind of wistful though, reminding me of the good old times we used to have on our quest, being everyone's hero.

It was a lot of pressure, lot of sadness being a demigod ...not being a demigod would save all of us from a lot of heartbreak, but I'm pretty sure that none of us would change if we had the choice. We understood the world better than other mortals. We become a huge family, fighting together.

All these thoughts were running through my head as Thalia, Annabeth and Grover met back in my cabin again, this time bringing chips and soda to add to the whole, "cabin gathering" thing we had going on.

"Well," Thalia laughed, rubbing her hands together in mock anticipation. "Your journal just keeps getting better and better! Lets read!"

Annabeth pursed her lips and tossed her journal into the middle of the circle. Grover muttered something about flying shoes and tin cans, then opened the shriveled pages.

"All right," he declared. "I'll start."

_July 7, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_Well, the second time I get a chance to fight, Percy does it all. And the worst part about the fight with Medusa was that I had to FORCE him to do it so we all didn't die. Oh why couldn't I have just sucked it up and done it myself?_

_After the fight, I felt drained, like all my energy had been squeezed out of my body. We stole some supplies from Medusa's office and jetted out of there as fast as we could. We stumbled through the woods, tripping over leaves and twigs. _

_Percy insisted he take the first watch so I could get some sleep. I felt a twinge of annoyance but nodded, lying down. I could hear Percy beginning to start a conversation with Grover as I drifted off to sleep. _

_I had a vivid dream._

_The world was dark, violent winds whipping my hair around my face. I could feel my heart beating vigorously around in my chest. I looked around desperately, hoping to find what I was looking for. What for, I had no idea. I just knew I had to find it. _

_"Hello?" I called, soaking in the eerie quietness. _

_A sudden noise to my left made me swivel around to face ...Luke. He grasped my hand desperately, as if something were about to suck him away. His eyes were red, as if he'd been crying. _

_"Luke, what-" I choked out. _

_Luke stepped forward and kissed my forehead. Suddenly, his body was pulled back, like it was some kind of gravitational pull. I felt a flash of desperateness. _

_"Where are you going?" I cried. "Stay with me!"_

_But his grip on my hand kept loosening until finally, he let go, swallowed by the darkness, seperating himself from me and the rest of the world. _

_I awoke gasping, only to realize we were still in the darkness of the woods. To my left, Percy was snoring, out cold. Grover was on watch apparently, fiddling with his reed pipes. He looked up at me and smiled faintly,but his eyes drooped. "Get some rest," I ordered. "I'll take watch now."_

_When Apollo pulled the morning sun from the dark, I rummaged around in the sack we stole from Medusa. I pulled out a jumbo bag of nachos just as Percy blinked awake. He looked almost traumatized, as if he just fought an army of monsters. "How long was I asleep?"_

_"Long enough for me to cook breakfast," I told him, tossing him the nachos. "__Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."_

_Percy's eyes focused on Gladiola, the unnaturally pink poodle Grover had stumbled across earlier in the morning. Gladiola barked and Grover answered._

_Percy stared at him quizzically. "Are you ... Talking to that thing?"_

_Grover explained that Gladiola had run away from home and his owner was setting up a $200 reward to whoever finds her. Gladiola had offered to give herself up in order to help us. _

_We returned Gladiola and pocketed the money. That afternoon, we took the Amtrack train West. We were on our way._

That was the end of the entry. I glanced at Annabeth who had her head down. "Annabeth," I said.

She looked up. Her swirling gray eyes were shimmering with tears.

I swallowed. "Annabeth ...that dream you had..."

A sparkling tear ran down her cheek. "I never realized that the dream was trying to tell me something," she whispered. "I thought everything would be fine after we came back from the quest and I saw that he was ...still there," she choked out. "I actually forgot all about it until now." She swiped the tears from her cheek.

Thalia and Grover were silent.

"Just another sign I refused to accept," she whispered angrily to herself. I said nothing. I felt numb. "There are just so many ways I could have reached out to him and-"

"Hey," Thalia interrupted. "Stop. Luke chose his own path. Never forget that he came back to us in the end. He did."

Annabeth sniffled. The cabin was quiet. Wasn't it funny how the world could go from something happy and fun to something serious in the blink of an eye? I couldn't think of anything to say, so I reached over and grabbed Annabeth's hand. She grasped my fingers and grabbed hold of Grover's too. Grover linked his hand with Thalia's and she reached over to hold mine too.

There we were, the four of us, sitting in a circle, holding hands. We didn't need to say anything. Our hearts were speaking at the moment, reaching out to one another. That was the thing. You never got used to it, the idea of someone being gone. Just when you think it's reconciled, accepted, someone points it out to you, and it just hits you all over again, that shocking. So we just sat together in our circle of friends, fighting the sadness together.

**Sorry it was so short. I also apologize if it was too sappy and emotional for your liking. I guess Percy kind of went out of character for a second there, being all deep and sad, but I figured that everyone's gotta let out their feelings sometime. The ending quote I took from another story, **_**The truth about Forever**_ **by Sarah Dessen. Review and tell me what you think please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey people! New chapter up soon because I gave you a short, emotional one last time, so here you go! BY THE WAY, IF YOU HAVE A TUMBLR, FOLLOW ME!a drop of personality .tumblr. com is my url. I put the spaces because fanfiction won't let me put the entire url up. I welcome ALL new followers! I love meeting new people! Anyway, read and review please!**

After we had composed ourselves, we decided to pack it in for the night. The next day, Grover and Thalia arrived with huge family size bags of doritos, potato chips, twinkies and other fattening stuff.

"What," I asked in disbelief. "Is all this?"

Grover and Thalia grinned, any sadness from yesterday wiped away like a clean slate. "If we're going to have such a great source of entertainment," Grover laughed. "We're going to need junk food to add to the experience."

"Yeah," Thalia agreed with a smirk. "Anyway, all this mopey stuff is getting on my nerves. That's just not how I roll, you know?"

I laughed, and bumped her with my shoulder. "You're darn right Thals," I told her.

Annabeth couldn't contain her smile anymore either. Her broad grin broke out across her face, brightening the room. "You're right Thalia," she conceded, pulling out her disheveled journal, tossing it into the middle of our 'circle'. "Go ahead. Have your entertainment."

Thalia needed no more encouragement. She snatched up the notebook and took a few seconds to exchange a warm look with me. I smiled at my old friend, sparks dancing between our eyes as we all started to read.

_July 8, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_So, I was telling you about what happened after we got on the Amtrack, right? So anyway, we sat there for about 45 minutes, saying nothing. Percy and Grover slept in their seats. I noticed Percy had a dribble of drool on his chin. Dork._

_I found myself staring at him, scrutinzing him as he slept. I couldn't help but notice how different he looked. All the stress lines and permanent frown was rubbed away, replaced by a peaceful, dreamy look. _

_Suddenly, Percy's body stiffened, he moaned in his sleep and the stress lines came back."I won't help you," he mumbled. _

_I felt my heart stop. "Percy...Percy, wake up!" I yelled, forgetting about the mortal passengers on the train. I shook his shoulder vigorously in a weird desperation that kinda caught me off guard. I mean, it was probably just a bad dream, right?_

_That was when Percy jerked awake, looking around in a dazed way. he didn't seem to realize that I was the one who woke him. He settled down in his seat, a composed expression on his face._

_After a moment I said, "So, Who wants your help?"_

_"What?" he asked quizzically. I took a deep breath and plunged in. _

_"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you. ' Who were you dreaming about?"_

_He told me about his strange dream including some kind of weird voice in a pit and evil laughing. Percy suspected it was Hades. I pursed my lips. There was something wrong here. _

_"That doesn't sound like Hades, I said finally. "He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs. "_

_That was when Percy mentioned husing his mother in a trade with Hades. Even though he was annoying sometimes, I was fuming about this. Hades was MANIPULATING him, giving him hope that Hades wasn't such a bad guy and that he could bring his mother back to life...which was really the only family he'd ever really had. If anyone can relate to family problems, its me. _

_Even though Percy acts all tough, confident and cocky, I knew he was scared, this being his first time being introduced to the Greek world, and sad about his mother. He might be trying to hide it, but it was there...plain as day. _

_I took a breath, trying to figure out how to tell him this gently. __"Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time- "_

_"This time?" he interrupted. "You've met them before?"_

_I swallowed down the lump in my throat, hesitating before answering. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom. "_

_"What would you do if it was your dad?"_

_"That's easy, " I said sourly. "I'd leave him to rot. " I struggled to look him dead in the eyes, unwavering. I was unsure if he could see past my mask of coldness...to the real pain underneath. _

_Percy's sea green eyes widened. He searched my face and waited for me to explain. _

_I sighed, and after all these years I finally began to talk about my past...to POSEIDON'S KID. Holy Zeus. I knew I was probably gonna regret this but, the words began tumbling out of my mouth like an avalanche. _

_"My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy, " I explained. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent. "_

_Percy's gaze didn't falter. I felt myself relax, and continued on. _

_"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally __forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist. " I finished this quickly in my haste to get my story out. _

_Percy winced and stared out the window. I wondered what he could possibly be thinking about. _

_"My mom married a really awful guy, " he said finally. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hide me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking. "_

_I shook my head but felt a surge of gratitude at his effort to make me feel better. I folded my hands into my lap and shifted in position so that I was facing him more. Percy relaxed a little bit into his seat too and we both continued talking. _

_I fingered Thalia's camp bead that was strung on my necklace. Percy told me I do that a lot when I'm thinking. Now, I realize that whenever I need strength, I finger Thalia's bead. It was like she was the only thing that kept my spirit fom wavering sometimes, the memory of her bravery inspiring me. _

I watched as Thalia's eyes began to shimmer. She blinked them away, mostly because just 5 minutes ago she told us that "wasn't her style." Still, I saw her wrap her fingers around Annabeth's as we continued to read.

_"He doesn't care about me, " I sighed "His wife-my stepmom-treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened-you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk. ' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away. " I choked the last part out, tears threatening to make their way to my eyes, but I held them in, not wanting to look weak. _

_"How old were you?" he asked. _

_I swallowed, sensing we were getting into a sensitive subject. "Same age as I started camp. Seven," I whispered. _

_"But ... You couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself," he stated, mostly to himself. _

_"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway. " A flash of me, Thalia, and Luke struggling through woods and fending off monsters flashed before my eyes, like a movie. _

_I could feel Percy's eyes burning into my back, scrutinzing me, but I kept my gaze away. That was a story I wasn't comfortable sharing with him. No matter how nice he appeared to be, I just couldn't trust him like I could with Luke. We were family. A family I hoped would last forever. _

A lump formed in my throat. I was about to continue reading without a second glance but I felt Annabeth's warm palm slide into mine. I looked up to see her looking at me desperately. I smiled faintly and shook my head, not wanting to have another emotional movie moment.

_I glanced out the window to see the Gateway Arch come into view. "I want to do that, " I sighed wistfully, staring up at the beautiful facade. _

_Percy looked at me again. "What?" _

_"Build something like that," I sighed dreamily. "You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?" I asked, the breathtaking monument filling my thoughts, its white Greek columns still supporting the disheveled building._

_Percy shrugged. __"Only in pictures," he admitted. I smiled at that._

_"Someday, I'm going to see it in person. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years. "_

_Percy laughed loudly, filling my ears. "You?" he guffawed. "An architect?"_

_I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks. So much for the perfect 'friend' moment. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention."_

"Oooh, BURN!" Thalia laughed from her spot in the circle, high fiving Grover. I smiled and flicked a dorito at her.

_That was when I saw Percy's expression and realized he had been joking. Whoops. __"Sorry," I apologized. "That was mean," I said, hoping he wasn't one of those sensitive pransies. _

_"Can't we work together a little?" he pleaded. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"_

_Hmm. He was still playing the mature guy, huh? Alright. I can go along with this. Besides, it was better to have a friend at camp, instead of ANOTHER enemy like Clarisse..._

_"I guess ... The chariot, " I contemplated tentatively. "My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses out of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete. " I looked at Percy who had a hopeful gleam in his eyes. _

_"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?" he reasoned. _

_I pursed my lips. Percy really wasn't a bad guy. It was just out hereditary rivalry that kept us from being friends. Of course, if the campers would stop using hereditary based rivalry's at camp, then we'd all be a lot happier...with less injuries to attend to everyday. After thinking this I took a breath and took the plunge. _

_"I suppose, " I conceded at last. _

_That was when Grover stretched next to Percy. He moaned, rubbing his eyes. I looked up at the Arch and smiled, gaining an idea. "Come on, goat boy, " I ordered. "Sightseeing. "_

_"Sightseeing?" he asked warily._

_"The Gateway Arch, " I said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"_

_Percy nodded, a little reluctantly, I noticed. Grover just stared at me warily and sighed, __"As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."_

_I smiled, hauling myself out of my seat, walking toward the Arch._

_I felt content, as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Talking to Percy was better than I ever would have thought it to be. He wasn't as ignorant as I first assumed. With his help, I finally was able to tell my life story aloud. All my life I __wondered which was harder, in the end. The act of telling, or who you told it to. Talking to Percy, I realized maybe, when you finally got it out, the story was really all that mattered._

"Wow, Annabeth thats deep," Thalia sighed, pressing a hand to her heart. Annabeth giggled and smacked her in the face with a pillow.

Grover sighed. "I was out cold for this whole entry!" he complained.

I laughed, squeezing Annabeth's hand. "I'm glad you trusted me back then," I told her. "That conversation was when I thought you'd finally lighten up on me, and you did...just a little though," I laughed.

Thalia, recovered from being smacked, grabbed the pillow and flung it towards Annabeth.

Annabeth, of course, ducked and it hit me in the face, dead on."Oh," I said as Thalia shrieked with laughter. "Its on."

And with that, the latest entry faded away, lost in the sounds of our laughter, and us smacking each other with pillows. Eventually, we switched the pillows for swords and had a personal tournament, goofing around and having a great time, being the best friends we always were.

**Thanks for reading! REVIEW PLEASE! Oh, and don't forget to follow me on tumblr! Once again, my url is: a drop of personality .tumblr. com. (without the spaces) I love you all!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone. Thanks for all the reviews. I wasn't going to update until way later but you guys insisted. I actually would've updated sooner, but my cat just died yesterday...so that kinda held me up :( Well, review please. Enjoy. **

Reading Annabeth's journal had become a natural part of our daily routine for us. Practically every night Grover, Thalia, Annabeth and me met up in one of our cabins (My cabin ususally) and had ourselves a good laugh. (And occasionally some tears.) Thalia and Grover almost _always _brought huge jumbo size bags of potato chips and double packs of oreos, twinkies, twizzlers, chocolate...it was like they looted the camp store for our little tradition.

"Well," Thalia laughed as she and Grover waltzed in through the door. "It looks like we left off right where Annabeth starts to..._enjoy _Percy's prescence."

I smacked her in the face with a pillow. "Aww, shut up will ya?" I complained, but couldn't really help cracking a smile.

"Calm down guys," Grover intervened. "Lets just grab a bad of doritos and read, okay?"

"Sure, Mr. Maturity," Thalia muttered. Grover rolled his eyes.

Annabeth tossed the journal in the middle of our circle somewhat grudgingly and motioned for us to read. I smiled and opened up to the spot with the bookmark, focusing my dyslexic brain on the faded words.

_July 9, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_ So...what was I talking about? Oh right, the Arch. Well, after I realized Percy wasn't such an annoying dork, I felt much better, but a little bit guilty. I knew Athena would NOT be thrilled that I was friends with that eccentric, son of Poseidon, but I guess I just thought about how different things would be if she and Poseidon just got along like me and Percy. Of course, I knew this would probably never happen, but a girl could hope. _

_ Anyway, after the Amtrack train shuddered to a stop, me, Grover, and Percy walked off. They looked slightly wary staring up at the Arch, but I dragged them over to it anyway. I was NOT going to miss this amazing opportuntity. _

_ "You smell anything?" Percy asked Grover nervously. I watched as Grover stuck his nose into the air, sniffing conspicuosly, causing many people to stare at him oddly. I laughed under my breath at that._

_"Underground, " Grover reported finally, "Under-ground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything. "_

_"You know the gods' symbols of power?" Percy asked. I looked away from the description of the Arch. _

_ "Yeah," I said. "Why?" _

_ "Well, Hade-"_

_ "We're in a public place," Grover reminded him. "You mean, our friend downstairs?"_

_ "Right," Percy agreed slowly. "Our friend WAYYY downstairs. I rolled my eyes in amusement. "__Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"_

_ My thoughts wandered to my precious Yankees hat from Athena. _

_"You mean the Helm of Darkness, " I said. "Yeah, that's __his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting. It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus-the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true... "_

_ "It allows him to become darkness, " Grover cut in after I broke off, thoughts of fear swirling around in my mind. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or heard. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. Why do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"_

_"But then ... How do we know he's not here right now, watching us?" Percy asked warily._

_ I glanced at Grover, feeling uneasiness settle in my stomach. I have to admit, I was sorta surprised he figured that out by himself._

I shot Annabeth a look. Thalia laughed uncontrollably. Annabeth shrugged.

"Sorry," she apologized, not sounding very sorry. I flicked a potato chip at her playfully. She caught it in midair, and tossed it in her mouth. I sighed.

"Come on people, lets read," Grover whined impatiently. Thalia threw a chip at him too.

_"We don't, " Grover said. _

_ "Well, that makes me feel a lot better," Percy huffed, but seeming all that surprised. _

_ Finally, FINALLY, we got into the elevator with a heavyset lady and her pet chihuahua. We began to shoot upwards. Percy and Grover groaned silently, but I was too excited to say anything. I was going up in a real monument! This would really help me get ideas for my own architectural designs someday._

_"No parents?" the fat lady asked us. _

_ "They're down below," I answered quickly, before Percy could say something dumb. "Scared of heights."_

"Well gee, Percy I can tell that you're the smartest one in the whole group," Thalia teased.

"Shut up, you're the one who really IS afraid of heights," I shot back, feeling pride that I thought that one up. Thalia narrowed her eyes at me.

"Alright," Annabeth intervened before Thalia could zap my left buttcheek off. "Lets just read."

_"Oohh, poor darlings," the woman sympathized. _

_ The chihuahua growled at us and the woman ordered it to calm down. "Behave Sonny."_

_ "Sonny," Percy repeated. "Is that his name?" _

_ "No," she replied. He scowled. _

_ The whole way up I talked about how much better the Arch could have been designed. I mean, it was totally obvious! The supports could've been improved, the floor could have been see through, the elevator could go at a faster speed. (enjoyment for the kids) I just KNEW I would do so great at designing something like this if I had a chance. Maybe if I submit some of my ideas..._

_ "Come on people," one of the guards said, interrupting my thoughts. "It's about time you went back down."_

_ I turned around reluctantly and walked with Percy and Grover back to the elevator. I was just about to puch the button when I realized there was no room for Percy. _

_ "We'll get out," I reassured him. "We'll wait with you."_

_ Percy protested though, herding us into the elevator. Grover and I were tucked in, leaving him behind with another family and the cherubic woman with her dog. I just knew this was not a good idea. We shouldn't split up. Once again, I felt that annoying surge of protectiveness towards him and I cursed myself for it. He'd be fine. Right?_

_ Grover and I made it down without any incident. Each elevator takes about eight minutes to get down so we knew this could take awhile. We glanced up into the setting sun to see Percy's elevator gliding down smoothly. I sighed. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. _

_ Grover and I walked over to a nearby bench to wait for Percy. Two minutes passed, and we sudden;y heard distant shouting. Grover and I instantly glanced up. Nothing. My heart began to pound vigorously in my chest. Time seemed to slow down...even the ELEVATOR seemed to slow as I waited anxiously below._

_ Once they were almost halfway down, I began to feel relief._

_ Until the elevator went up in flames. _

_ I screamed loudly, Grover joining in. Mortals began to look in the direction we were to see what was going on. Soon, everybody was panicking, running in circles. My brain was moving a hundred miles per hour. WHAT was Percy doing? What was happening that caused it to go on fire?_

_ The screaming got louder as one side of the elevator blew off. The flames were so thick I couldn't even see inside. I clenched my fists together and just thought: oh gods, oh gods, oh gods, WHAT THE HADES IS HAPPENING HERE?_

_ The flames crawled up to the top of the Arch as my heart crawled into my throat._

_ Suddenly though, the flames stopped. Just stopped. I could see inside as the elevator went all the way to the ground. I could see the terrified family with the little boy inside, but no Percy...or that weird lady. _

_ Screams could still be heard as ambulance and cop cars sirens began to whine. I grabbed Grover's arm and hauled him after me. _

_ We searched for fifteen minutes, not seeing any sight of Percy when suddenly Grover gasped in relief. "PEEERRCCYYY!" _

_ I felt a surge of relief swell inside, catching sight of Percy, his clothes scarred and ripped. He looked exhausted but okay. _

_ Grover wrapped him in a hug while I pretended to scold him. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"_

"Pretended? I said knowingly. "Annabeth, I could tell you were worried," I told her, smug. She stuck her tongue out at me.

_"I sort of fell," he told us. _

_ I gasped, picturing the huge, looming Arch. I scrutinized him. That couldn't happen. He would be...dead. But I guess you get special treatment like that when you're the son of Poseidon. Still I couldn't help but allow a worried tone seep into my voice. _

_ "Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"_

_ Suddenly, the woman who was part of the family I had caught a glimpse of when the elevator's flames went away was rolled by on a stretcher. _

_ "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-" she was saying. _

_ I looked at Percy, eyebrow raised, curious now about what had happened up there. The paramedic was attempting to calm down the woman, his soft tone obvious that he thought she was crazy._

_ "I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared," she protested. She looked over at us. "There he is! Thats the boy!" _

_ Percy grabbed my hand and grabbed Grover and took us deeper into the crowd. He told us the story of how the odd lady on the elevator was really Echidna, mother of monsters, and her little dog was actually a chimera. _

_"We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad," Grover said. _

_ We froze when we heard Percy's name. I swirled around and saw a tall man doing the news. _

_"Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson. "_

_ "We have to get out of here," Percy said, and we ran back to the Amtrack._

_ As darkness fell, and Percy and Grover fell asleep, I felt miserable. I screwed up everything about this damn quest. I always pictured that I would be the big hero who saved everyone, not the new, barely trained demigod who just arrived a few weeks ago. I had to be the one rescued and the one who failed to realize the woman was Medusa earlier. I hadn't even realized that stupid lady was Echidna! _

_ In fact, this whole incident wouldn't have even happened if I hadn't iunsisted on going up. I mean, it was pretty obvious Percy and Grover didn't want to go. Ugh. So much for the awesome new hero. _

_ I cried myself to sleep that night, nightmares dancing before my eyes. _

"Aw, come on, Annabeth, that whole thing wasn't your fault," I protested. Annabeth just looked at me guiltily.

"Okay look," Thalia interrupted before I could say any more. "I REALLY don't want to have another 'doctor phil' moment with you guys, so lets just agree that we all made mistakes during our quests and just read, okay? I mean, Percy messed up thousands of times."

"Do you really have to comfort her by insulting me?" I grumbled, but couldn't help cracking a smile.

We decided to stop the reading for tonight and moved onto swordfighting, pillowfights, truth or dare, and man hunt...and when I say 'hunt' I really mean, HUNT.

I had a great time that night, laughing along with all my old friends. After all, throughout all these years with them I've learned that life is an ugly, awful, place not to have best friends.__


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey lovely readers! I would first like to apologize for the extremely late update. Please don't be mad. I've been really busy with school and graduation, but now...SUMMER IS HERE! WHOOP WHOOP! Haha, I'm cool ;) Oh guys, guess what? I have to read the Iliad for summer vacation! Omg, the book is thicker than the freaking bible! But anyway, I should be able to update more often now. So...Enjoy and don't forget to Review! :)**

The next day, Annabeth and I were walking through the woods, listening to the distant sounds of monsters growling and tree nymphs giggling. Annabeth entwined my fingers with hers and took a deep breath, like she was working up the nerve to say something.

"What's wrong?" I asked, looking her straight in the eyes. I could always tell when something was bothering her. We'd been close for so long we knew each other's personality like the lyrics of our favorite songs. It was almost like we had an empathy link of our own.

"It's just- " she began, choking on her words. "Percy, are you mad at me about all that stuff I wrote about you? Like all the things I said about you being...you know, immature and untrained and scrawny and amateur and unskilled and weak and-"

"I get it," I interrupted, allowing a small laugh to escape through my lips. "And no. Besides, its not like I didn't know that you thought about me that way when we first met. I mean, you made it kinda obvious. But it's okay you know? We're closer now and thats all that matters." I pressed my lips into her coconut scented hair and I felt her relax into me. "And for the record...you were an amazing hero on that quest," I told her. "You really were. None of that stuff was your fault. I mean, we all made mistakes. You were a great hero."

Annabeth sighed. "I have to admit, so were you. I mean, you really surprised me Percy. No offense, but I sort of expected you to chicken out...but you were brave, seaweed brain."

I laughed, leaning against a tree. "Better believe it wise girl."

Annabeth glanced up at me suddenly. "You haven't called me that in such a long time," she laughed, her eyes taking on a distant, pensive look. "But I remember. You called me that the first year we met and a couple of times after that. But I guess I've always called you seaweed brain huh?"

I smiled and nodded. Annabeth stood on her tiptoes and pressed her soft lips to mine. We stood there for a second, enjoying being together until I heard an irritated "Exuse me" from behind.

I turned around to see an annoyed tree nymph standing behind us. Her eyes were tinged green and her ears were pointed up like an elf's.

Annabeth's face turned red and I swallowed down my embarrasement. "Uh...yeah?"

The tree nymph rolled her eyes and stuck a hand on her hip. "If you two are going to make out, Percy Jackson, then don't do it while you're leaning on my tree because I guarantee you, I will stick my branch right up your-"

"Alright Berry," Annabeth interupted, flashing her a look. "We get it. Sorry. Oh, and say hello to Juniper for me when you get a chance, alright?"

The tree nymph, apparently called Berry, sighed and melted back into her tree. We stumbled away from it, and then burst out laughing once we were too far away for Berry to hear.

"Oh my gods, " Annabeth gasped, clutching her stomach. "That was so embarassing."

"Yup, it pretty much was," I agreed through my uncontrollable laughs.

Once we calmed down, Annabeth glanced down to check her watch. "Almost eight," she reported, then looking up to the orange stained sky. Looks like Apollo was beginning to bring the sun down. "We should probably go meet up with Thalia and Grover. You know, so I can embarrass myself while you guys read my stupid journal."

"Aww come on, Annabeth," I laughed wrapping my arm around her waist. "It's really not as bad as you think. Truthfully, I kind of like being able to know your thoughts about our first quest."

"Yeah well, maybe one day you'll tell me your thoughts too," Annabeth teased, bumping playfully into my hip."

"Ha, yeah like, maybe I'll pay someone to write all my adventures in a book series," I teased back as we walked back to camp. "Haha right. Like anyone would buy them." ;)

"I know," Annabeth agreed.

By the time we got back to my cabin, it was already dark outside. We walked across the common area and stepped onto my small porch. The inside of my cabin was pitch dark as we stepped through the door frame and into the room.

Suddenly, Annabeth and I were pelted from both sides with a flurry of pillows. Annabeth yelped and spun around slapping whoever was in my cabin on the back of the head. I heard an irritated "Ow!" from the darkness.

Meanwhile, I grabbed one of the pillows that whacked me in the stomach and twisted it hard, whipping the person on the other end around and slamming the "attacker" hard into the wall. A girl's voice yelled, "Dammit Jackson, it was just a joke, you don't have to slam me into the freaking wall!"

I fumbled around for the light switch, clicking it on. There, in the sudden brightness was Grover, rubbing his head, and Thalia, crumpled against the wall, glaring at me irritably. I stifled a laugh and helped her up.

"Sorry," I apologized. " I assumed you were someone from the Ares or Hermes cabin or something."

"Perfectly good explanation," Thalia grumbled, brushing off her black tank top. "Someone attacks you with pillows, YOU slam them as hard as you can into the wall. _Perfect_ sense."

I smiled sheepishly while Grover, still rubbing his head grumbled, "Can we just read now so I don't have to worry about any further injuries?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes and brought over her journal to our usual spot. We all sat in our circle and began to read, picking up where we left off last.

_July 10, 2005_

_Dear Journal, _

_Alright, so I left off where my stupid self caused us to get attacked by Echidna, mother of all monsters. No biggie, right? Ugh. Wrong. It was June 14th at the time, seven days before our deadline and truth be told...we looked like hell. _

_We rode the Amtrack train into Denver. Once in town, I looked over to Percy and Grover. __"Let's try to contact Chiron, " I suggested. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit. "_

_Percy looked at me quizzically. __"We can't use phones, right?"_

_"I'm not talking about phones, " I told him, as I surveyed the town, ignoring the looks the locals gave us, taking in our dirty clothes and wild expressions. _

_Finally, after looking FOREVER, I caught sight of a ratty old car wash. I dragged Percy and Grover over and began to dig through my clothes for spare change. _

_"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked as Grover pulled the spray gun out of it's holster. _

_"I don't have enough money," Grover complained as he looked at me. "Annabeth?" _

_I shook my head. _

_Percy sighed and took the last bit of change out of his pocket. _

_"Excellent, " Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping. "_

_Percy gave him a look like he's finally lost it and said, "...What?"I stifled a laugh. _

_"IMing," Grover told him as he put the coins into the slot. _

_Percy looked at him again. "Instant messaging? Really?" _

_"Iris-messaging, " I corrected. "The rainbow god-dess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods. "_

_Percy raised his eyebrows at me. I mentally sighed. "You summon the goddess with a spray gun?" he asked finally._

_Grover held up the nozzle and squirted water into the air, the sun's reflection creating a dazzling mini rainbow, right there in a filthy car wash parking lot. _

_I held my palm out to Percy. "Drachma, please. "_

_I raised the coin into the air, the golden rays of the afternoon glinting off the gold. __"O goddess, accept our offering," I chanted and tossed it into the mist. It disappeared and I spoke again. "Half blood Hill."_

_Suddenly, the camp's misty image materialized in front of us, showing the familiar hills and buildings I had known my whole life. Despite my desperation to get out of the camp and into the real world, I had a small pang of homesickness. Just a pang though. _

_That's when I saw Luke standing at the railing of the Big House, looking as awesome as ever. His orange shirt revealed his tan muscles easily and I swallowed hard, remembering my disheveled appearance. _

_"Luke!" Percy called joyfully, looking happily at his first camp friend._

I swallowed the lump down my throat, refusing to look up, for fear I would see that sadness in Annabeth's eyes again, mirrored back in mine. I saw that look on her face every time Luke was mentioned. (Which didn't happen very often.)

_"Percy!" His scarred face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"_

_My throat tightened up."We're...uh,...fine...Luke. Thanks," I stammered, running my hands through my knotty hair, feeling the butterflies in my stomach practically have a seizure. "We just thought that uh...Chiron would, uh..." _

_"He's down at the cabins. " Luke's smile faded. "We're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover all right?"_

_I stepped aside gratefully as Grover came into view. __"I'm right here, " Grover called. He looked at Luke hard. "What kind of issues?"_

_Just then a big Lincoln Continental pulled into the car wash with its stereo turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement. I winced, the music shattering my eardrums. I've always hated loud music, even though the Apollo campers thought it was, "cool" _

_"Chiron had to-what's that noise?" Luke yelled. _

_"Uh, I'll take care of it!" I offered, super relieved that Luke didn't have to see me lookng like a stinky rat that just crawled out of the sewer. Then, to assure that I wasn't being too obvious about it, I gestured quickly to Grover. "Come on and help me! Give Percy the nozzle!"_

_Grover muttered something under his breath that I didn't catch, and thrust the gun over to Percy. He tromped over to me and we confronted the annoying guy in the van, leaving Percy alone to talk with Luke. Grover looked nervous, but we walked right up to the teenage guy, who was sporting a diamond earring and was nodding his head to the beat. A smoking cigarette hung loosely out of his mouth. Disgusting._

_I walked right up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey," I yelled over the thumping music._

_The guy looked over, causing me to catch an unwanted whiff of cigarette breath. Ugh. "What is it kids?" he asked in amusement. "Can't find mommy? Or need money to buy decent clothes?" he flicked my t-shirt in amusement. I slapped his hand away. _

_"Turn down your disgusting music," I snarled irritably. _

_The guy raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?" _

_"Turn down your disgusting music," I repeated nonchalantly. _

_The guy leaned out of the window, pressing his face so close to mine I could see his yellow stained teeth. "Look little girl, I'm not gonna be taking no orders from you. Now run along before something bad happens to you."_

_Alright. Now, I was irritated. Stupid mortal. "Turn it down," I snapped. _

_"No!" The idiot persisted. Grover sighed from behind me. He shuffled his hooves, probably sensing something was about to go down. _

_With that we got into a full fledged argument. Then he pushed me. Big mistake. Something snapped inside me. I whipped out my knife and pointed it menacingly at him. "Turn it down," I said. The guy gulped at the sight of the wicked sharp blade, (That technically couldn't hurt him) turned down the stereo, then squealed away from the car wash in a flurry of smoke and exhaust. _

_"Alright," Grover smiled. 'Way to kick some butt Annabeth." _

_"That guy won't stop driving till he reaches China," I joked. We cracked up then went back to join Percy. I hoped Luke and him had stopped talking by now. _

_Grover and I were still cracking up as we rounded the corner, but then stopped when we saw Percy's expression. It was full of anguish and confusion._

_"What's wrong Percy? What did Luke say?" I asked, feeling worry flood my body. _

_Percy looked unsettled, but shook it off, forcing a smile onto his face. "Nothing," he assured me. "Lets go find some dinner." _

"Wow," I said finally once we were done reading. "So THAT'S what happened with that guy at the car wash. You know, I've always been curious about that."

Annabeth laughed. "Honestly, it was kinda fun."

Grover cracked up too. "Oh my gods, I remember that! You should have seen the look on the guys face when he saw that 12 year old girl threaten to slit his throat!"

Even Thalia, who was still grumpy about me slamming her into the wall, smiled. "Of course Annabeth would offer to kill him over music. She's not very open minded about mortals."

An awkward silence fell over the cabin when she realized what else that could also be connected to. "Anyway," she continued loudly, breaking the spell. "That was entertaining tonight. And Percy, I WILL get you back for doing that to me. Goodnight."

And with that, she flounced out the door, letting it shut with a bang. Grover, still laughing at the memory got to his hooves and followed her out, making sure to click the light off on his way out. They both walked out into the night, leaving me and Annabeth in complete darkness.

**Okay! thats all for this chapter! Don't forget to review! Once again, I apologize for the extremely late update! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey, my favorite readers! So much for the quick update, huh? Ugh, I'm hardly making a dent in The Iliad so far. But I'm well informed! Anyway, new update on the story. Not sure if I'm going to write the sequal right after because I have an awesome story idea for my next fic! Leave me a review telling me what you think! Anyway, Enjoy and review my dears! **

The next day, Grover and I were practicing our Pegasus riding with the Aphrodite campers. Blackjack had grown over the summer and was now _huge_, his black wings stretching over 6 feet.

"Hey ...Percy Jackson!" A girl called out to me. I glanced over to see a slender girl dressed in denim shorts and a form fitting tank top. She had pink eyeliner rimmed around her eyes and matching pink glitter brushed into her wavy black hair. She bounced giddily over to me and grabbed my hand.

"You _have _to come and ride on your pegasus with me, there is a fantastic breeze up there now, _and _not to mention the great view. She wiggled her eyebrows at me as I swallowed down my laugh.

"Uh, okay but ...do I uh ..know you?" I asked, scrutinizing the girl who was shedding glitter like tinkerbell.

"Oh no, but I'm Drew," she introduced herself with a hair flip. "I'm the new head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, and I think we should get to know each other a little better. You know...counselor to counselor?" Drew emphasized the true meaning of what she just said with a flirty wink.

"Um... I really don't think I should," I glanced at Grover for help, who was looking at us with wide eyes. He shook his head vigorously, although Drew didn't seem to notice.

"Of course you should! Come on!" Drew squealed, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards a pegasus before I could even protest.

"Uh, Drew, you don't understand. I don't think-"

"_Ooohh, _this is a gorgeous one!" she interrupted me, brushing her fingers over a silky brown pegasus named Saddle.

Blackjack stared at me, slightly amused. _"Hey Boss, you got another girlfriend now?" _he asked in my head. I glared at him. Not funny.

Before I knew it, I was being shoved onto Saddle, Drew climbing on back, wrapping her arms around my waist.

"_Hiya!_" Drew shouted, and we flew into the air, Grover and Blackjack gaping up at us.

_Oh, for the love of Zeus, _I thought grumpily, as Drew tightened her grip and leaned into me.

Saddle glided over the stalls and riding course for about five minutes, with Drew's ever tightening grip on my waist. Suddenly though, a huge gale of wind engulfed us, causing Saddle to swerve out of control, and he fell quickly back to the ground.

We hit the ground with a thud, Saddle landing right on top of me. Drew bounced onto the dirt floor and rolled a few feet. She stopped and lay on her back, groaning.

Thalia stood over me with a smug expression.

"Told ya I'd get you back for slamming me into the wall," she teased giddily, snapping her fingers. Once again, a huge breeze flew through the camp. Oh. So THAT'S where that wind came from.

Then Thalia walked away from me and over to Drew.

"And you," she snarled. Drew cowered under her intense glare. "Back off Jackson, alright girl? He's taken and I'd _hate _to see something bad happen to you." Drew nodded vigorously. she walked away from both of us, throwing a grin my way, and brushing roughly past Drew.

I grinned back and walked over to Grover and Blackjack. Grover was laughing hysterically, his face red. Blackjack looked like he was whinnying in amusement too.

"Oh man," Grover laughed, slapping his knee. "You were more petrified to be with that girl than you were when you were fighting off the Sirens!"

"Alright, alright," I laughed along with him. "I owe it to Thalia for getting me out of that one."

Grover glanced at his watch, still chuckling.

"Oh, it's almost eight," he told me, adjusting his reed pipes. "We should be going to your cabin now."

"Sure thing," I agreed. I led Blackjack back to his stall and fed him a sugar cube. Then we set off to my cabin where Annabeth and Thalia were already waiting.

Thalia was sitting on my bunk, telling Annabeth something and laughing hysterically. Annabeth's eyes brightened when she saw me.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain!" she called out, flashing me a smile.

Thalia smiled in my direction too. Although, it was more of a smirk.

"Hey Kelp Face, I was just telling Annabeth here about your little date with Drew," Thalia joked.

Thankfully, Annabeth started laughing, clutching her sides. Grover began to laugh too, ripping open a bag of cheese balls and eating a mouthful...and part of the wrapper.

"Hey, I got to thank you for getting me out of that one, Thalia," I sighed sitting on the ground next to them. "That girl really didn't know how to take a hint."

Thalia smiled and rolled her eyes, pulling out Annabeth's journal. "Whatever Percy, I'm just glad I got to blow you off that horse."

Annabeth playfully flicked at my cheek, then took the book from Thalia's hand. "Alright people, so where were we?"

"Oh, when you almost took that guy's head off at the carwash," Grover chimed in, his head still in the bag of chips.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and opened the crinkled pages to where we left off.

_July 11, 2005_

_Dear Journal,_

_Hahaha, stupid mortal. He should've known not to piss me off. Okay...so I'm a 12 year old girl. But I'm sure I looked serious enough. _

_Anyways, we found a little diner nearby, so we stopped in for dinner, despite the fact that we had like, ZERO money. _

_Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"_

_Percy looked at me nervously and stammered, "We, um, want to order dinner. "_

_The waitress looked us over. I sighed. Grover and Percy just looked so nervous. I was afraid Grover would start eating the silverware._

_"You guys have money to pay for it?" she asked._

_Percy shot a panicked look at me. I was just about to open mouth to formulate an excuse when I felt a dry wind blow through my hair, sending a tremor down my spine. Looking over, I saw Ares, the war god, standing in the doorway, eyeing us in amusement. _

"Ooohh," Thalia groaned through a mouthful of twizzlers. "That sucks, guys"

"Yeah," I agreed, remembering my first meeting with Ares. "It did."

_I stiffened. He looked exactly the way he did at the winter soltice meeting on Olympus. Same nasty sneer, oversized muscles, and look of murder flaming in his eyes. This was bad. Really bad. _

_Ares sauntered over and slid into my booth, crushing me against the window. I swallowed down my irritation._

_"It's on me," he told the waitress, who was staring at him, paralyzed. He glanced up at her, arranging a threlook on his face. "Are you stilll here?" The waitress shot towards the kitchen._

_Grover was shaking next to Percy, his eyes wide. Percy however, looked like he was about to punch a wall. Oh, man. The aura of Ares. Not good._

_Ares scrutinized Percy. "So you're old seaweed's kid, huh?"_

_Percy sucked in a breath. "What's it to you?" _

_Oh, Lord Hades. _

_"Percy," I hissed over to him, trying to get him to understand. "This is-"_

_"S'okay, " Ares said. "I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?"_

_Percy studied him closely, until a look of recocgnition crossed his face. How he figured it out, I had no idea. Percy had surprised me again. _

_"You're Clarisse's dad, " he said. "Ares, god of war. "_

_Ares sneered at him. "Good job, punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."_

_Percy shrugged nonchalantly. "She asked for it."_

_I wasn't sure if he was faking the whole, 'cool guy,' attitude but it didn't seem like he was very scared._

"No," I admitted. "But that was only because he reminded me of my old stepfather. It was probably just the whole 'godly aura' thing."

_"Probably," Ares areed. "That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for-I heard you were in town. I got a little proposition for you. "  
__The waitress came back with piles of food, glancing nervously at Ares. I felt a twinge of pity for her. _

_Ares handed her some golden drachmas. Idiot. _

_The waitress looked down at the gold. "But these aren't-"_

_Ares took out a huge, pointed knife. "Problem, sweetheart?" _

_She swallowed hard, then left, walking mechanically back to the kitchen._

_"You can't do that, " Percy protested angrily "You can't just threaten people with a knife. "_

_"Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor. "_

_Percy looked him over with disgust. "What favor could I do for a god?" _

_"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little ... Date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me," Ares said._

_Percy rolled his eyes. "Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"_

_I swallowed. I was kinda liking his attitude, but I'm pretty sure Ares wasn't. I wonder why he wasn't scared of him. _

_Ares glared at him, a red fire building in his eyes. "Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned forward. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you. "_

_I shot a warning glance at Percy to make sure he didn't get too angry, but I don't think he saw. He was too busy taking deep breaths, trying to control himself. I felt a twinge of anger towards Ares. Percy was doing great on his quest, especially for a demigod who barely trained at all. He was doing better than me, not that I'd ever admit that. Ares is such a jerk. _

_Percy finally regained his composure."We're not interested, " he said. "We've already got a quest. "_

_"I know all about your quest, punk," Ares snarled. When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful...Well ... If I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath. "_

_Percy looked at him accusingly. _

_"You told him Hades stole the bolt?"_

_Ares shrugged uncaringly. "Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immediately. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest. "_

_"Thanks," Percy grumbled. _

_"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends. "_

_Percy wouldn't look at me, Grover, or Ares. I looked over at Ares, trying to figure out what exactly he was planning. There are ALWAYS strings attatched when it comes to Ares. _

_"We're doing fine on our own," he informed Ares. _

_Ares snorted."Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom. "_

_Crap, I thought. Ares obviously is playing some kind of game here. He wouldn't normally come up to a bunch of demigods and try to bribe them into getting something for him. ESPECIALLY if it was about Percy's mom. Something was really wrong here..._

_Percy looked up, a shine of desperation flashing in his eyes. _

_"My mom?" he said. _

_Ares grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride. "_

_"What interrupted your date?" Percy asked mockingly. "Something scare you off?"_

_Ares glared at him angrily. I swallowed. _

_"You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as I am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me. "_

_Ares slid out of the booth, then lumbered out the door. I leaned back, taking in a few deep breaths. _

_Grover began hyperventilating. "Not good, " Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good. "_

_Percy stared out the window, his eyebrows furrowed, like he was in deep thought. I shot a worried glance at him. _

_It's probably some kind of trick, " he said finally. "Forget Ares. Let's just go. "_

_I sighed, wishing with all my might that we could do just that. _

_We can't, " I sighed. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you don't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent. "_

_Percy sighed, suddenly looking more tired than I had ever seen him. I guess it had something to do with the fact that Ares mentioned his mom. _

_"Why does he need us?" he asked warily._

_"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," I suggested. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."_

_"But this water park ... He acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?" Percy asked._

_I glanced at Grover nervously._

_"I'm afraid we'll have to find out," I told him._

_Mother of Zeus, I thought. _

"Ugh," I groaned at the end of the entry. "I hate the next part of the quest."

Annabeth shot me a look. "_You _hated the next part? I'm the one with the arachnaephobia!"

Grover shuddered. "I just hated those shoes."

Thalia shot a bewildered glance at all of us. "Okayyy, guys this was a really interesting entry, but I'm tired. I'm gonna go back to my cabin."

Annabeth glanced up. "Goodnight Thalia."

"Later," I called out.

Grover got up and followed Thalia out the door. "I'm going too," he announced, and trotted out the door. Two seconds later, he ran back inside, grabbed a back of cheetos, and ran out again.

Annabeth and I laughed.

Annabeth looked at me and grinned. "I guess I should go too," she told me.

I smiled back. "Of course. But first..."

I reached over her shoulder and flicked off the light.

**Okay guys, thanks for reading. So sorry for the really late update. Trying hard to complete my summer reading. Oh, I'm going to start another fic including Thalia as the main character! So add me to your author alerts before the end of this story if you want to check it out! Review please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Wow. Okay, so I was **_**going **_**to give up on this story, since I haven't updated since the summer, and I know that most of you guys have probably forgotten about it altogether. But I decided that since it's winter break, I should revisit my old obsession :). Before I start, I want to thank all my reviewers who are still submitting review, even though it's been like four months. Also, I would like to thank ****Chenoamisae**** for persuading me to continue:) And now...ON WITH THE STORY! Making this a long chapter because I waited for like 5 months haha. Review pleaseeee :D**

The next afternoon was boiling hot. The sun pressed down on my shoulders, and the air was sticky with humidity. Sweat poured down my neck and into my shirt as trained, swinging my sword around in a deadly arc. Annabeth, and Thalia stood nearby, listening halfheartedly to Grover attempt to play "teenage dream" on his reed pipes.

Suddenly, a black sword came out of nowhere and knocked against my blade with a loud _clang. _Riptide flew out of my hand and skidded across the dirt. Looking up in surprise, I saw Nico Di Angelo twirling his stygian iron sword around his fingers. He grinned at me, his deep black eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Looks like you're losing your touch. You don't usually let someone take you off guard like that."

"Haha," I laughed sarcastically.

After the war, Nico had grown quite a bit. His hair was black and hung naturally to one side. He had gotten taller and had managed to pack some muscle onto his once lanky body. Despite the heat he was wearing a black camp t-shirt and dark blue jeans. The most noticeable difference about him was that he seemed to spend more time locked up in his new cabin at camp. I hardly see him anymore.

I settled down onto the grass, it's sharp blades poking at my legs. I took a swig of water, the coolness instantly revitalizing my energy. Nico plopped down beside me and stared across the hills toward the pavillion. Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover walked over to join us.

"So," I finally said. "Where have you been all summer? I've barely seen you around camp."

"Yeah," Annabeth chimed in. "It almost seems like you've disappeared."

Nico slid his sword into his sheath. "I've been around," he sighed. "Been doing things in my cabin and training a lot."

"Training?" I asked quizzically. "I've never really seen you training."

Nico smiled in amusement. "I train at night," he informed me. "I find it easier to concentrate. Besides, people don't bother me at night because no one else is willing to break curfew."

"Oh, so you're like a vampire?" I joked.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Very funny," he grumbled.

We sat in silence for a moment. Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. Maybe Nico should also join in on our journal readings. After all, he was just as much involved in the prophecy as we were.

I exchanged looks with Annabeth. She understood immediately and nodded warily.

"Hey Nico?" I mumbled.

He turned his head slightly. "What?"

I told him all about the journals and what we had been doing the past few nights. The whole time I was explaining, Nico just looked at me with a black stare. After I was finished, I expected him to want to jump right in on it and read Annabeth's journals right away. His response surprised me though.

"No thanks," he answered quickly, his voice cold.

I blinked in surprise. "What? You don't want to hear about all our adventures before you got here? Annabeth also wrote about the years after that, you know...like when you first came to camp? Don't you want to read about all that? I thought you would want to be included in all this."

Nico just shook his head, a strand of black hair falling in his eyes. "That's alright. I don't need to be reminded of the past. I've spent this whole summer trying to forget about it. I don't need any dumb journals to remind me of my stupid mistakes and all the shit that happened to me in the past few years."

And with that, Nico got up and walked away toward his cabin, letting his screen door slam behind him.

We all sat there stunned, staring after him with a dumbfounded expression. Finally, Annabeth spoke.

"I didn't know he still felt so bad about everything," she mumbled, almost to herself.

"Yeah, but I guess you can't assume these things," Grover sighed.

Thalia stayed quiet, her eyes glued to the ground. I studied her with concern.

"Thalia? Are you alright?" I asked.

She looked up and smiled, although it seemed a little forced. "Yeah of course," she answered quickly. She got up and dusted off her knees. "I should go," she said, looking off towards the woods. I need to...meet with my hunters about something." And with that, she jogged off to the common area without looking back.

Annabeth stared after her worriedly. "I hope she and Nico are okay," she mumbled to herself.

That night Thalia didn't show up to read the journals.

"Where is she?" Annabeth asked for the umpteenth time. "She should have been here a long time ago."

I nodded in agreement, but something in my gut told me we should probably leave her and Nico alone for a while.

"Lets just read without her," I suggested. "If she wants to, we can catch her up with what happened later."

Annabeth nodded unenthusiastically. "Alright," she conceded, reaching for the journal. Looking our current entry, she shuddered at the memory. Grover sat munching on tortilla chips next to me, scattering crumbs everywhere.

"Lets read," he declared through a mouthful of snacks.

The three of us stared down at the withered pages and continued where we left off.

_July 12, 2005_

_ Words cannot explain how wary I was that Ares wanted us to do something for him. He obviously wanted us to do it rather then him. He even toyed with Percy's emotions to bait him along. Something was not right here...but I couldn't figure out what the Hades it was!_

_ By the time we arrived at the water park Ares told us about, my feet were sore and it felt like my clothes were weighing me down. Despite all that, I still struggled not to drag my feet. I wouldn't let Percy know that I was feeling weak. He's already shown me up countless times. I have to prove that I'm not a weak little girl everyone already sees me as. _

I felt my cheeks redden. All those years Annabeth needed to prove to herself that she was good enough. Looking at her now it's hard to believe that she could ever see herself as anything less than amazing. I opened my mouth to tell her all this but Annabeth shook her head, already knowing what I was going to say.

_The waterpark was pretty depressing, with peeling paint, and empty pools. It was too...quiet. Caution and nervousness grew in the pit of stomach. Something bad was going to happen. I could sense it. _

_ "If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date, " Percy said, breaking the silence "I'd hate to see what she looks like. "_

_I cringed, thinking of who he just insulted. _

_"Percy, " I warned. "Be more respectful. "_

_ He looked at me quizzically. _

_ "Why? I thought you hated Ares. "_

_ "He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very tempera-mental, " I answered, the glowing goddess entering my mind. _

_ "You don't want to insult her looks, " Grover added._

_ Percy furrowed his brows. "Who is she? Echidna?"_

_ I sighed, once again getting frustrated with his cluelessness. Does it make me a bad person to feel this way? Probably. But what can you do?_

_ "No, Aphrodite, " Grover swooned. "Goddess of love. "_

_ "I thought she was married to somebody, " Percy pointed out. "Hephaestus. "_

_ "What's your point?" Grover asked._

_ "Oh. " Percy glanced at me for a second. I looked away. "So how do we get in?"_

_ "Maia!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings. Grovew managed to fly over the gate, leaving me and Percy staring at him from the other side of the pointed wires. _

_ "You guys coming?" he asked smugly. _

_ Percy and I grabbed ahold of the barbed wire fence and began to work our way up. As I was crawling up, I couldn't help but wonder what the Hades I was getting into. _

_ Once we climbed over, we began to walk. I held my hand by my side, ready to grab my knife in case any monsters sprang out to meet us. I wouldn't be caught off guard this time. This time, I would be ready. I would be the hero for once. _

_ We were still walking when a small souvenir shop caught my eye. _

_ "Clothes, " I moaned in longing "Fresh clothes. "_

_ Percy stared at me like I was crazy . "You can't just-"_

_ "Watch me," I interrupted him, walking towards the open entrance. Once inside, I grabbed everything I possibly could and stuffed it into my pack. I stripped down, hiding behing a clothes rack so Percy and Grover wouldn't see and put on some new Waterland clothes. Okay, so I didn't look like a model, but who cares? It's not like I was trying to impress Percy with my appearance. He wasn't Luke. _

Ouch. I winced, and continued on, but not before Annabeth wrapped her hand around mine and squeezed it.

_I emerged a few seconds later in my new attire, Percy and Grovew scrutinizing me with approval. "Eh, what the heck," Grover conceded, walking into the store, Percy following close behind. Soon, they too were walking advertisements for the park. _

_ "So Ares and Aphrodite, " Percy said, in an attempt to break the silence. "They have a thing going?"_

_ I sighed, that feeling of irritation rising up in my chest once again. _

_ "That's old gossip, Percy, " I informed him. "Three-thousand-year-old gossip. "_

_ "What about Aphrodite's husband?" he asked. _

_ "Well, you know, " I sighed. "Hephaestus. The black-smith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands, and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"_

_ "She likes bikers," Percy noted. I smiled despite myself. _

_ "Hephaestus knows?" he asked. _

_ "Oh sure, " I said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarrass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like ... "_

_ I stopped, looking straight ahead. "Like that. "_

_ An old, disheveled water ride stood before us, cupids lining the edges, their smiles eerily painted on. An old peeling sign above it read: THRILL RIDE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!_

_Grover crept toward the edge, peering over cautiously. "Guys, look. "_

_Percy and I walked forward, kneeling over to see Ares's shield glinting in the light. _

_ "This is too easy, " Percy stated in disbelief. "So we just walk down there and get it?"_

_ I was about to answer him when something caught my eye. I looked down, studying the small greek letter carved into the base. _

_ "Eta," I mumbled to myself. "I wonder..." _

_ "Grover, " Percy called, "you smell any monsters?"_

_ "Nope, nothing," he called back as I sat there thinking. _

_ "Nothing-like, in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echidna nothing, or really nothing?" Percy asked, a hint of irritation in his voice. _

_ Grover looked on, hurt. "I told you, that was underground, " he protested, his tone sad. Percy's face changed. _

_ "Okay, I'm sorry," he apologized, his voice sincere. "I'm going down."_

_ "I'll go with you," Grover volunteered, his voice shaking a bit. _

_ "No, " Percy told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong. "_

_ I couldn't help but feel a little admiration for Percy. He was surprisingly quick to apologize to Grover and made sure he felt better when something wrong slipped out. I hate to admit it, but that's something I have not been able to do yet. No matter how annoying that kid is, he really does have a good heart._

_ Grover smiled, a little light returning to his eyes. _

_ "Sure. But what could go wrong?"he asked. _

_ "I don't know," Percy admitted. "Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me-"_

_ "What?" I interrupted him before he could finish. My cheeks erupted into a bright red, and a weird tickle started in my stomach. "Are you kidding?" _

_ "What's the problem now?" he demanded, looking annoyed. _

_ Ugh. Did I have to clue him in on everything?  
"Me, go with you to the ... The 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me?"_

_ Percy's cheeks also darkened when he realized my point. _

_ "Who's going to see you?" he protested, despite his embarrassed expression. He rolled his eyes. "Fine, " he told me. "I'll do it myself. " He slid down the side of the pool, and began to walk off without me. _

"Wow," I said. "Sorry something like that is too embarrassing for you."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on."

I smiled. "Too bad that happened then. I don't think it would have been a problem for us now," I teased, flicking a chip at her.

"Hmmm," she said, pretending to contemplate it.

"Very funny," I grumbled.

"Oh you know I love ya Seaweed Brain," she laughed, kissing me on the cheek.

"Uh, HELLO? Still in the room!" Grover complained from his spot on the floor.

"Oh, you're welcome to join me in the Tunnel of Love next time," I joked. Grover threw a pillow at me.

_I sighed, about to let him go on, but then it hit me. Percy was about to be the hero again! No way, not this time. I slid down after him, grumbling to myself. _

_ When the two of us reached the boat, we noticed Aphrodite's pink scarf shimmering with a thousand different colors. Percy gently picked it up and stared dreamily at it. I ripped it out of his hand and stuffed it in my pocket. _

_ "Oh, no you don't," I warned. " Stay away from that love magic. "_

_ Percy looked at me with disappointment. "What?"_

_ I sighed, not wanting to explain. I wanted to get out of there fast. I still had that unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. _

_ "Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here," I ordered, feeling impatient. _

_ Percy reached out, but his hand touched a few strands of transparent wire that I hadn't noticed before. _

_ "Wait-" I cried out. _

_ Percy glanced up at me, him noticing it too. "Too late."_

_ "There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap," I cried with a horrible realization flooding through my veins. _

_ The ride suddenly came alive with noise as all the statues turned and aimed their arrows at us. grover yelled for us up above, but there was nothing he could do. _

_ Percy grabbed the shield and we ran, struggling to get up the slippery slope. _

_ "Come on!" Grover shouted._

_ Above us, a speaker boomed, "Live to Olympus in one minute ... Fifty- nine seconds, fifty-eight ... "_

_ "Hephaestus!" I screamed in fury. "I'm so stupid. ' Eta is H. ' He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"_

_ Percy and I almost climbed to the top when a hatch opened and a swarm of spiders crawled out of the hole. _

_ You know when people talk about true terror? You always assume that people are exaggerating, right? What possible things in the world are enough to make you wish you're not alive? Well, I can tell you first hand, that this was one of the most t e r r i f y i n g moments of my entire life. _

_ There were THOUSANDS of those creepy things, crawling down over us like a black sea. Horror consumed me and I let out a bloodcurling scream. _

_ "Spiders!" I yelled. "Sp-sp-aaaah!"_

_ Percy stared at me, completely surprised at my behavior. I wanted to stop. To compose myself and become the brave girl I always pretend to be. But I just couldn't. I didn't have it in me. I bolted back into the boat and Percy followed behind. _

_ The spiders began to wash over us, and Percy started kicking at them. He was yelling at me about something, but I didn't pay any attention. I screamed in a voice I wasn't even sure was mine and shuddered as they overtook me. _

I glanced at Annabeth. Her nose was wrinkled in disgust, remembering the awful memory.

_"Fifteen...fourteen," The loudspeaker called overhead. _

_ 'Great_,'_ I managed to think through my terror. 'Now all the gods will get to see what a coward I am.' _

_ Percy yelled something I couldn't hear to Grover. Suddenly, I heard a different noise over the sound of my screaming...the sound of rushing water. _

_ Water exploded out of the pipes and began to whisk our boat away and down the tunnel. Percy grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into the seat, fastening me in. The boat flew down the ride, into the whirlpool. I stopped screaming long enough to realize that Percy was controlling the water, his eyes squeezed shut in concentration. _

_ Percy and I grabbed ahold of each other, screaming as we barreled across the water. _

_ "Unfasten your seat belt, " Percy yelled over to me. _

_ I looked at him in disbelief. "Are you crazy?"_

_ "Unless you want to get smashed to death," he snapped, pointing towards the closed gate that was rapidly approaching. I strapped Ares's shield to my arm. "We're going to have to jump for it. " _

_ I quickly realized Percy's plan and grabbed his hand. _

_ "On my mark, " Percy said_

_ "No! On my mark!" I yelled, unwilling to trust his math._

_ "What?"he yelled back._

_ "Simple physics!" I shouted. "Force times the trajectory angle-"_

_ "Fine. '" he conceded. "On your mark!"_

_ I hesitated ... Hesitated ... calculating the correct time then yelled, "JUMP!" _

_ Unfortunately, I gave us too much of a lift. We shot into the air, then started falling towards the pavement below. I thought we were dead until Grover grabbed both of us behind. _

_ "You're too heavy!" Grover groaned. "We're going down!"We spiraled toward the ground, Grover doing his best to slow the fall._

_ All of us tumbled onto the ground, scraped but alive. Percy and I thanked Grover then looked back over at the wreckage of our boat. _

_ "Show's over!" Percy yelled at the cupid statues, their camera's still aimed at us. "Thank you! Good night!"_

_ The Cupids turned back to their original positions. I struggled to catch my breath, still petrified from the whole spider ordeal. Looking at Percy's face I saw that he was pissed. Beyond angry. _

_ Before I could thank him for saving my life he said, "We need to have a little talk with Ares. "_

_ So once again, I was the damsel in distress. I was okay with this one though. Hey, if that boy wanted to save me from a bunch of metallic spiders, I'm not gonna argue. Something I was continually noticing however, was Percy's attitude when he _did _accomplish something. Never showed off or bragged about it. Never became cocky. I honestly still have no idea what to make of him, but he's earning my respect, little by little. _

"Wow," I said, closing the pages. "This was a good one. I almost forgot about the spiders. Almost."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Haha, very funny," she muttered.

"I like this one too," Grover chimed in. "The few times I was actually a hero."

Annabeth and I were about to protest when my cabin door opened. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw Thalia standing in the doorway, her cheeks pink.

"Sorry," she apologized. "I kinda bailed on you guys."

I smiled, relieved to see her. "It's okay," I told her. "Where have you been?"

Thalia hesitated. "Talking to Nico," she admitted. "I just needed to...get closure on a few things."

Annabeth, Grover and I nodded in understanding. Suddenly, Thalia grinned.

"So I guess I missed out on a journal entry, huh?"

I smiled. "We'll fill you in."

"Dear gods," Annabeth groaned. Grover and I laughed.

The four of us laughed into the night, recapping the last entry that Annabeth dreaded the most.

**Whew! That took some time! Hope you guys enjoyed it! That talk between Nico and Thalia is sort of hinting at my new Thalico fic I will be writing after this one! Once again, sorry for the EXTREMELY late update! REVIEW PLEASE! =D**


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